Advisers

Prof. Julio S. Amador, III

Mr. Julio Amador III was Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Service Institute. He provides policy analysis and strategic advice on ASEAN issues, Southeast Asia security and international relations, and foreign policy to several offices in the Department of Foreign Affairs. He earned a Master of Arts in International Relations and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Security Studies as a Fulbright Graduate Scholar at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University for 2012-2013. He was an Asia Studies Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington from May 27 to November 27, 2013. He lectures at the De La Salle-College of St Benilde, Development Academy of the Philippines, FSI, and the Special Intelligence Training School (SITS).

H.E. Laura Q. del Rosario

Ambassador Laura Quiambao-Del Rosario was a career diplomat who joined the Philippine Foreign Service in 1979. She has served various tours of duty in the Philippine Embassies in Vienna, Singapore, and Washington D.C. She also served as the Philippine Ambassador to India and as the non-resident Philippine Ambassador to Nepal from 2003-2007. Ambassador Del Rosario was designated as the Director-General of the Foreign Service Institute or FSI from 2009-2011 before serving as the DFA Undersecretary for International Economic Relations from 2011-2016. During the Philippines’ hosting of APEC in 2015, she chaired meetings as the Chair of the Senior Officials’ Meetings. Aside from being a career diplomat, Ambassador Del Rosario is an educator whose early career in the academe began at Maryknoll College where she served as the Acting Department Chairman of the Literary Studies Department and as Director of Admissions for five years. She is currently an Eminent Fellow at the Development Academy of the Philippines and a Distinguished Fellow at the Asian Institute of Management.

Orlando S. Mercado, Ph.D.

Dr. Mercado was a senator of the Philippines for two terms (1987–1992 and 1992–1998). In 1998, he was appointed Secretary of National Defense by then President Joseph Estrada. In 2009 he was appointed as the first permanent representative of the Philippines to ASEAN. He is currently the Secretary-General of the Eastern Regional Organization and Public Administration (EROPA), an organization of states, groups and individuals in the general area of Asia and the Pacific. He has taught courses in Public Administration and Communication in the University of the Philippines where he obtained all his degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Master of Arts in Communication, and Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. He is a faculty member at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government and has been conferred membership to the Council of Fellows of the Development Academy of the Philippines with the title Eminent Fellow. He is also a member of the DAP Academic Council.

Jose Prospero E. de Vera, III, DPA

Dr. de Vera III is a Professor of Public Administration, teaching courses in administration of social development, public administration and national development, Philippine administrative system, and policy process among others. His specializations include demography/population, environmental policy, higher education governance, legislative studies, monitoring and evaluation, non-governmental organizations, policy analysis, political management, and social development.

Atty. Roberto V. Oliva

Atty. Oliva is a professional forester and lawyer. He specializes in natural resources law and policy and has over 30 years of professional experience in the areas of forestry, protected areas, environment and natural resources management. Prior to his appointment as ACB (ASEAN Center for Biodiversity) Executive Director, he served as Assistant Secretary (Assistant Minister) at the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He graduated from the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) College of Forestry and Natural Resources (UPCFNR) in 1978 as a government scholar and finished his law degree in 1984. Atty. Oliva worked with various international organizations, including the United Nations, Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, World Bank, Global Environment Facility, and US Agency for International Development and private consulting firms mostly as natural resources policy and legal specialist.